News

Cara Delevingne auctions watch in aid of Wildcru conservation efforts

August 6, 2015

David Macdonald, WildCRU’s Director writes that: Last week Dr Dawn Burnham and I were fumbling through suitcases in the baggage arrival area of Heathrow airport, returning from observing lions in South Africa. We had been attending an excellent conference at Rhodes University where Dawn had delivered a paper on WildCRU’s research on why charismatic big cats are the most potent emblems for conservation (Cecil’s followers agree!) and I had been giving a plenary talk on conserving big carnivores around the world. All around us, as we searched for our bags, were huge posters of model Cara Delevingne – little did we think that this morning we would be opening our emails to discover that Cara was auctioning her watch (with a lion inscribed on its face) to raise money for WildCRU’s research. Andy Loveridge and I are deeply grateful to her for this generous gesture – it is also a wonderful educational opportunity to think that Cara’s gift will introduce our work to the millions of people who follow her globally, and who we hope will come to appreciate the importance of wildlife and the environment to their futures.